Thanksgiving Themes from Kitchen to Table

Interspersed throughout this lens, you'll also find a few personal Thanksgiving memories.

Quite accidentally, we began our own Thanksgiving Tradition in 1962. First Thanksgiving together, first year of marriage, new baby, new job in a new State far from family, and Bob, a radio broadcaster, had to work on Thanksgiving Day. As it turned out, Bob's co-worker was also new to the State and had no family nearby, so Bob brought him home for dinner with us.

This began a 40-year tradition of 'sharing' our Thanksgiving Dinner with someone who would otherwise be alone and probably not even have a traditional holiday dinner. We fed a turkey dinner to a lot of grateful bachelors over the years and it always felt like the perfect way to celebrate this "sharing" holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving by nemos1271
Design note cards at zazzle

T is for Thanksgiving by artogram
invites made on zazzle.com

Our church in Lincoln, Nebraska had a tradition for the Thanksgiving Service of having a pair of children be 'greeters' for the congregation. Someone in the church had made pilgrim costumes for the greeters to wear. In 1969 our children were chosen - not just because they were so cute (well, they were!), but because they were the right SIZE for the only pair of costumes available. Chris & Kim had a marvelous time "dressing up" and greeting everyone at the door to the church.

If you're having the traditional Roast Turkey for your Thanksgiving Dinner, you're probably adding other family favorites. Ours were turkey stuffing, of course, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, a vegetable, and dinner rolls.

Gobble 'til you Wobble by sellabrate
See more Thanksgiving T-Shirts

Dinner guests often ask "What can I bring? For several years, while living in Georgia, we invited a young bachelor friend of our son-in-law to Thanksgiving Dinner. Eric was a broadcaster with a Public Radio Station and had to work on holidays, so he came to dinner after work. Eric always wanted to "bring a dish", so we left 'dessert' up to him. The first two years, Eric brought TWO kinds of pies, a third different dessert, like a cheesecake, AND a bag of Peanut M&M's.

By the third year, with only 3 of us eating an entire Thanksgiving Dinner, I admonished Eric to bring only ONE dessert -- there was only SO MUCH that we could eat!

It seems as though pumpkin pie is the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner dessert, but mincemeat pie and pecan pie are also favorite choices. Many other kinds of desserts fit in with this holiday dinner too. What you serve probably depends on where you live and what your family tradition has been. Listed below are some featured lenses with dessert ideas and recipes.

Stay in the holiday mood right through the dish washing by using a practical cotton dishcloth in a pretty Fall theme. This Pumpkin-Shaped Dishcloth would fit in perfectly. Hand-crocheted of 100% cotton yarn in orange with a bright green stem. it measures 9 inches x 11-1/2 inches.

Pumpkin Dishcloth can be found at the Etsy Shop of Mountainside Crochet

From being the home family came to for holiday celebrations, Thanksgiving 2010 the 'tables' were reversed and I spent Thanksgiving at the home of my youngest son in Kansas City, KS.




This day it was my son carving the turkey and my darling daughter-in-law serving up the rest of the 'goodies' ,



My Grandsons made the Thanksgiving weekend even more special as Thanksgiving is a family time, a sharing time, a loving time!

Our holiday has come full circle.... and I'm 'back home again!"